Hosannas From the Basements of Hell
by 0utfoxed
Summary: The Avalanchers find themselves the targets of a sinister and mysterious cult looking to get its hands on the original copy of the Creation Epic, the Enuma Elish. But what are their ultimate goals? [Unfinished, on hold indefinitely]
1. Heaven

Disclaimer: I do not own the game that this story is based on. (If I did, AC would probably have been longer than the LOTR trilogy and 'Lawrence of Arabia' combined. )

**Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell**

**Chapter 1  
"Heaven"**

* * *

_Candles were laid out in a circle on the floor, their wax dripping lazily down the thin ivory columns as they slowly burned away in the darkness. The flickering candlelight barely illuminated the dusty cellar floor, lined with arcane letters and markings drawn in red chalk. The faint light crafted sweeping shadows, which moved slowly back and forth as the cellar's musty air was disturbed by the basement's sole occupant._

_The man, upon entering the circle's center, folded his hands and bowed his head, as in prayer. He began to chant quietly, muttering the words he'd committed to memory only moments earlier.._

_As he did so, a faint, yet noticable change came over the room, at first slowly, almost imperceptably. He could detect a hint of sulfur, permeating the air now. A trickle of wind wind began to emanate from the center of the basement's floor where he stood, extuingishing some of the candles as it grew in force._

_..Yet the light in the basement did not go out._

_The figure in the robe smiled, as the crimson light spread out across the room, consuming him.._

* * *

The tiny bell at the top of the 7th Heaven entrance chimed as the last of its staff exited the building. "Good night!" Nadia called as she headed out the door. 

"'Night." Cloud replied idly to his co-worker, without looking up from what he was doing. It was past midnight, and he was the only figure remaining in the bar, the last of its patrons having gone home a few minutes earlier. The former swordsman was left with the task of closing up the place, and was currently arranging the last of the glasses back on their shelf. Tifa had left on an excursion to Cosmo Canyon a few days earlier, leaving him to take care of the bar and the children in the meantime.

It was Sunday night, and as such, it had been a fairly slow work day in the new 7th heaven bar in Edge, one mostly populated by regular customers, along with a few travellers stopping by for a night cap.

Cloud carried the last batch of shot glasses from the bar's sink to the shelves at the back of the room. As he placed the last glass back in its spot, he noticed a picture frame which had fallen over on the table next to him. Walking over to the table, he raised the frame and dusted it off. The blond swordsman frowned ever so slightly as he recognized the picture within the frame.

It was a photograph of the Avalanchers, taken two years ago. In the center of the photograph there stood a radiant figure, someone who was not to be found in any of their other photos..

In the middle of the group there stood a beautiful girl in her early twenties, dressed in a simple pink dress and red jacket, smiling brightly at the camera. Closing his eyes, the blond swordsman placed the picture frame back on the table, trying to force away thoughts of the past from his mind, as old feelings began to well up inside him.

He looked at the picture again. Somehow, the people in the photograph, their existences, their hopes and fears and dreams felt like they were all part of some other life that had taken place eons ago, and yet it had hardly been two years since..

_Had he really forgotten about her... put her out of his mind already?_

He was glad that the children were asleep. When inquired as to the late Cetra's whereabouts, he would usually tell them "She's in Heaven now." hoping that it would do for an answer.

Yet he never really believed that himself. He knew for a fact that there was no such thing as Heaven. As he and the others had learned during their fateful journey, all souls simply returned to the Planet's essence, where they remained until they were brought back to the surface as new life. Whether that law applied to every living being, however, he didn't know. He didn't know how it all worked. Whether humans and Cetra ended up in the same place, went to the Promised Land, or were reborn, or simply remained a part of the soul-swell that the Planet consisted of..

But one thing was certain. None of them would ever see her again. And that was what got to him the most. The knowledge that there was no going back. Never knowing or realizing what could have been..

Cloud sighed. He knew he couldn't allow himself to dwell on the past... and yet there was some part of him that simply refused to let go..

As he placed the picture frame back on the table, the lights in the 7th Heaven bar suddenly went out, shrouding the room in darkness._ "Great. Power's out again.."_ Cloud thought. He didn't pay much attention to it. The town of Edge was struggling with power issues, now that mako was no longer an option, and it was not unusual for there to be periods of rolling blackouts every now and then.

The former swordsman reached for and lit an old-fashioned lamp, then began to lethargically climb up the stairs leading to the second floor. Outside, a light drizzle of rain could be heard tapping against the windows. Having reached the second floor, he made a quick stop at the end of the hall, checking in on Denzel and Marlene, who were sleeping peacefully in their beds. Satisfied that the two children were all right, he carefully closed the door, heading towards his own bedroom.

As the door closed, a figure crept from the shadows of the room's corner, moving towards the two children..

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a stealthy figure darted up the steep pathways of the Da Chao mountainside. 

The young ninja stopped for a moment, hiding in one of the mountainside's many crevices, pausing to clean the blood from her shuriken. Satisfied that her weapon was clean again, Yuffie Kisaragi leaned her back against the rocky mountain wall for a second, catching her breath.

She had passed a pack of wolves only moments before, while travelling up the mountain. Most of them had passively ignored her, but the alpha male of the group had begun snarling at her as she approached, preparing to attack.

Left with no other option, the young ninja had unlatched her combat shuriken, cutting down her attackers in the air as they jumped at her, then continued running up the mountain path without stopping. Threat as they might have been, she was careful to obey her clan's rule of hunting. They were only allowed to kill the the male ones, and even then, only if absolutely necessary. The other wolves had briefly considered chasing after her, but decided against it, allowing the trespasser to escape.

Normally, the young ninja would be in bed at this hour, sleeping comfortably, but she had a special reason to be out tonight. Now all that remained was to find out whether that reason was a valid one..

Yuffie began moving again, ducking into an opening in the mountainside. She found herself inside a narrow tunnel leading deeper into the mountain itself. Most people, once inside the maze that was the series of caverns underneath the Da Chao would find themselves hopelessly lost, but having navigated them since she was a little girl, Yuffie knew most of these tunnels as well as the back of her hand.

However, she discovered that she was not alone there tonight..

As she got further inside the cavern, she heard voices, coming from somewhere below. A low fire was burning deeper inside the cave. Peeking out across a ledge, Yuffie noticed three figures gathered on the floor below her, their bodies covered in heavy black robes, their hands folded and heads bowed.

"Lord Belial.." one of the figures spoke reverently, as another, slightly larger one approached them.

"Ose." The other figure replied, in a gravelly voice, one that seemed somehow closer to an animal's growl than a human voice. "How are our plans moving?"

"Very well, your Lordship. We have cleared the pathway to Cocytus, and the tablets will soon be found.."

"And the ones that stand in our way?" Belial asked, cutting his cohort's reply short.

"Not to worry." Another figure replied. "They are being taken care of."

"Tonight, Heaven shall burn." A third figure added, grinning insanely.

"Good." Lord Belial replied. "Enuma Elish will soon be ours, and then all of our sacrifices will pale in comparison with our achievements."

"Amen." The other figures replied as one, bowing their heads.

_"What the hell?" _Yuffie thought._ "What are they talking about?"_

Holding her breath, she carefully edged closer, peeking further out, her movement causing a few pebbles to roll down across the edge..

The noise alerted the robed figures, whose reaction was violent, to say the least. "Who's there!?" One of the figures called.

_"Shit!" _Yuffie thought. She slipped back, looking frantically for a place to hide.

The robed figure in charge turned to the others. "Search the tunnels." He ordered. The robed men began to scatter, scouring the tunnels, knives and torches in hand.

Several minutes later, the hooded figures left, satisfied that no-one else was there.

From her hiding place on top of the cavern roof, Yuffie breathed a sigh of relief. Relaxing her muscles, she released her sprawled grip on the rock, she let herself fall softly to the floor._ "Who the hell were _they_?"_ She thought. It looked as though her reason for being there tonight was a very valid one indeed..

* * *

Cloud lay on top of his bed, still fully clothed, staring at the ceiling. He felt unusually restless tonight. He wasn't certain whether it was that feeling of nostalgia brought on by the photograph he had discovered earlier that night, but something was weighing heavily on his mind, preventing him from falling asleep. 

Deciding that trying to fall asleep was futile, he decided to make a quick round of the building. He got up from his bed and exited his room. As he made his way towards the staircase, he noticed that the door to the children's bedroom was wide open..

_"What? I swear I closed that door earlier.."_ Cloud thought.

Rushing over to Denzel and Marlene's room, he realized to his horror that their beds were empty. The children were gone, missing..

Wasting no time, he practically leapt down the stairs, picking up his sword from its sheath as he headed for the doorway of the 7th Heaven bar. As he reached the doorway, he saw that Denzel and Marlene were out in the street just outside 7th Heaven, being led away by a figure dressed in a brown robe.

"Come along, little ones." The figure said to them, urging the sleepy children onwards. The children passively followed him, as if in a trance.

Cloud recognized the figure. He he had been at the 7th Heaven earlier that night, seated in the corner of the room, idly nursing a drink. No-one had paid the lone figure much attention and had left him to his own devices.

"Hey!" Cloud called towards the figure. "What do you think you're doing!?"

The robed figure paused, turning around. "Keeping them safe." The man replied. His face now partly revealed, Cloud could see that the figure was a rather frail-looking old man, seemingly one who posed no great danger..

"Let the children go." Cloud said, brandishing his sword.

"The Emissaries.." The old man replied, seemingly paying no attention to the threat. "They are watching you."

"Get away from them." Cloud replied in a low, threatening tone of voice, advancing towards the old man. "I'm not asking you again."

"Very well." The old man replied, letting go of the children, who seemed as though they had just become aware of their surroundings.

"I see they have decided to offer you a... _display_ of their power.." The old man continued. "I would keep them away from this place, if I were you." He said, gesturing towards Marlene and Denzel, who were returning to the blond swordsman.

"Who _are_ you?" Cloud asked, looking back up from the two children, after making sure that they were unharmed, but the figure in the robes was already gone.

"What the hell, man? Wuz going on here?" Barret asked, coming up the street. "I heard some kinda racket goin' on this way."

"I don't know." Cloud replied. "But I don't think it's safe here. Can you take Denzel and Marlene?" The blond swordsman asked.

"Yeah, no prob." Barret replied.

"Keep them safe." Cloud said. "I'm going to take a look around the house, see if anyone else is prowling around."

"Awright, man." Barret replied. "Jez be careful."

Cloud nodded. "You too."

"C'mon, kids. Let's go." Barret said to the children, leading them back to his place. Marlene cast a worried glance at Cloud, who was heading back inside the 7th Heaven building, before being ushered along by her foster father.

Wanting to make absolutely certain that apart from himself, the house was completely empty, Cloud began to examine every corner of the room critically. As he did so, something strange began to happen. As if by an invisible hand exerting its force upon it, the gas valve of the bar's cooker began to unscrew itself. The faint sound of gas leaking into the air could be heard, as the valve turned..

Placing his lamp next to one of the open windows, Cloud began to check the cupboards as potential hiding places, silly as it seemed, he wanted to be thorough in this matter.

Suddenly, strong gust of wind blew the picture frame over, exposing its open back, sending the photograph contained inside flying out the door.

_"What the-"_ Cloud thought, as saw the photograph disappearing. _"No!"_

For some reason, in that instant, all he could think of was saving that photograph, Aerith's photograph, from being destroyed or lost. He sprung up from his crouched position, chasing after the flimsy piece of celluloid as it floated through the air. As he reached the exit to the 7th Heaven bar, another, stronger gust of wind blew his lamp over, sending it crashing to the floor..

The effect was instantaneous.

The lamp's fire, escaping from its glass confines, sparked the gas-soaked air, causing a violent explosion which sent Cloud flying out onto the street, incinerating the building.

The wind outside fanned the flames, sending them spiralling upwards throughout the building. Wincing, Cloud picked himself up from the street, doing his best to ignore the many bruises he'd accumulated during his landing. As he sat up, he noticed the photograph of the Avalanchers laying next to him.

Then he realized that it had caught on fire... The picture burned away, slowly melting the celluloid towards the centre.

_"No.."_

Aerith's picture, the only surviving record of her existence, vanished before his eyes in an ever-shrinking halo of fire. The photograph they had taken back when she was still among the living.

...The photograph that had just saved his life.

Rising up from the ground, the blond swordsman watched helplessly as 7th Heaven burned to the ground, embers rising from the inferno before him.

Discarding the burnt photograph, he turned away, stalking down the dark streets of Edge. He knew this was not a random occurence. There were forces at work here, and _someone_ was going to answer for this...

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

And... roll credits on the first episode. Hope you guys enjoyed that. Now, this is something new for me. An experiment, if you will. Normally when I write, I plot out my stories somewhat, but this time around I have no real idea where I'm taking this, story-wise or character-wise. It's starting out as Cloud/Aerith, but if you guys have other ideas, I'm always open to suggestions. Anyway, let me know what you think. Cheers!

Ps. Kudos to anyone who knows where this story got its title from.

Pps. For those of you waiting for the next chapter of Empires, it's on the way. Unfortunately, my Uni exams are coming up, so you might have to wait a while longer. Thanks for your patience.


	2. Omens

**Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell**

**Chapter 2  
"Omens"**

* * *

The rain seemed to be growing in force with every minute. It looked as though the town of Edge might be in for a full-fledged storm. 

The lights in the garage flickered to life as its owner ducked inside through the still-opening door. Cloud quickly surveyed the room, then headed for a cloth-covered shape in the middle of the grimy garage floor. He removed the cloth to reveal his old motorcycle, now rusted and falling apart from disuse.

As he began to gather the tools needed to get it back into shape, his PHS rang. "Yeah?" He answered, laying aside his wrench for a minute.

"Cloud.."

"Yuffie?" He asked, puzzled. He wondered why Yuffie Kisaragi, of all people, would be calling him in the middle of the night.

Then he noted the distress in her voice..

"What's wrong?" He asked, in a slightly lower tone of voice.

Clearly something was the matter. It wasn't new for the young ninja to be talking quickly, but now she was babbling almost incoherently. Try as he might, Cloud couldn't catch half of what she was saying.

"Ok, ok, slow down." Cloud interrupted her. "What happened?"

He heard Yuffie sniffle, before composing herself. "We've been attacked."

"What?" Cloud replied, taken aback. "Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yeah.."

"What about your father?"

No reply.

Cloud slowly sat down on a bench near the wall. "...Yuffie, I'm sorry.."

"I don't know what happened." Yuffie replied. "They must've snuck in while I was gone. If I'd been asleep... I..."

Cloud shook his head slowly. "What about the others?" He asked, knowing he probably wouldn't like the answer.

"They're all dead. Gorky, Chekov... everyone.."

A short space of silence passed before Cloud replied. "Yuffie... Where were you?"

"What?"

"You said you were away when it happened." Cloud noted. "Where were you at the time?"

"The... the Da Chao."

"Why?" Cloud pressed.

"I got this note.." Yuffie answered. "Someone left a room in my note, telling me to check the caves tonight."

"Any idea who might have sent it?"

"No... but..." Yuffie replied, remembering what she had discovered earlier that night. "I found something in the caves. There were these men there, dressed in black robes, talking about... I don't know, Cocytus, and something called the Enuma Elish, I think.."

"You think they had something to do with this?" Cloud asked.

"..They weren't exchanging cookie recipes, that's for sure." Yuffie replied.

Despite the situation, Cloud couldn't help but chuckle slightly at Yuffie's response. It was good to hear that at least her sarcastic side was still intact.

"What else did they talk about?" He asked.

"I don't know." Yuffie replied. "I interrupted their meeting by accident, and they almost found me. Came after me with knives and everything, so I guess.."

"..they didn't want anyone to know." Cloud finished for her. "Gotcha." The blond swordsman scratched the back of his head. "Look, we've gotta warn the others. They might get hit, too."

"What about you?" Yuffie asked.

"Too late." Cloud replied. "We've already been attacked tonight. Someone burned down 7th Heaven." He heard Yuffie gasp slightly at his response.

"Wha-?"

"Don't worry. Everyone's fine." Cloud replied. "Barret and the kids are holed up someplace safe. But we need to let the others know."

"Ok."

"We'll split the calls down the middle." Cloud said. "I'll call Cid and Tifa. You take care of Vince, Nanaki and Reeve, all right?"

"Yeah.."

"Yuffie..?" Cloud continued. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah.." Yuffie replied, sniffling again. "I'll be all right."

"Ok. Call me if anything else happens." Cloud replied. "I'll ask Cid to pick you up as soon as he can."

"Okay... thanks." Yuffie replied, before cutting off her end of the call.

Cloud laid his PHS in his lap and sighed, staring up at the bright lights of the garage for a moment. It looked as though things might be even more serious than he'd first thought..

* * *

"All right, get on outta here!" Cid shouted, before turning away from the open living room window. "Damn kids.." The airship pilot muttered, heading for his favorite easy chair. 

"Cid, you really need to drop this habit of shouting at nothing." Shera said to him, her voice tinted partly with exasperation, partly with amusement.

"..Could've sworn I saw someone skulking around the backyard." Cid muttered, flipping idly through an old newspaper. "Probably those kids again, fuckin' around with my planes.."

Shera chuckled. "You're getting paranoid in your old age, Cid."

"It ain't paranoia when there's really people pokin' all across your backyard.." Cid replied, his mind half-way sunk inside the pages of his newspaper. "And I ain't gettin' old."

The phone on the kitchen table began to ring. Cid groaned.

"I'll get it." Shera said, getting up.

On her way to the phone, she stopped next to Cid, bent over, and kissed him on the cheek. As she reached for the phone's handle, Cid rose up from his seat as well, walking over to his wife. "Wait." He said. Before she could answer the phone, he had his arms wrapped around her, and was busy planting kisses all over Shera's neck.

Shera chuckled again, half-heartedly pushing her husband away. "Cid, the phone's ringing.."

"Aw, screw the phone." Cid replied, playfully ushering Shera towards their bedroom. "If it's really important, they'll call again."

* * *

_"C'mon, Cid. Pick up."_ Cloud thought. _"Pick up already."_

The blond swordsman let out a frustrated sigh, placing his PHS back in his pocket. "Damn it!" He cursed under his breath.

He made a quick left turn, heading for Edge's market district. Having patched up his motorcycle, he was back out on the streets, searching to find any trace of the old who had visited 7th Heaven earlier that night. Denzel and Marlene owed their lives to him, that was for certain. So, even though he wasn't an ally, at least Cloud knew he wasn't an enemy. And he seemed to know of what was going on. In any case, that was the only lead that he had..

As Cloud rode through the streets on his motorcycle, he kept turning things over in his head. What Yuffie and the old man had mentioned to him. Emissaries. Cocytus. Enuma Elish...

He knew Cocytus had something to do with religious scripture. One of the circles of Hell, or something akin to that. Superstitious nonsense, as far as he was concerned. The other two didn't ring any bells, though. Judging by the situation, however, he'd have to find some answers, and soon.

He reached for his PHS again, dialling another number on his speed-dial list. After a few rings, the person on the other end picked up.

"Tifa?" Cloud said. "All you all right?"

A short pause.

"Good. Look, something's up.." He began.

* * *

"An imminent attack, you say?" Reeve replied. 

The former Shinra executive dodged inside one of the tents to escape the noise coming from the construction operation that he was currently overseeing. Pressing his hand against his other ear, he tried to block out the last traces of the noise as he continued talking on the phone.

"Yeah. We don't know how or when, but someone jumped me and Cloud earlier today, so stay on your toes, ok?" Yuffie responded.

"Will do." Reeve replied. "Thanks."

"What was that?" The foreman asked, entering the small tent.

"Just some old friends." Reeve answered. "I'm going to have to take leave now. You're officially in charge while I'm gone."

"What?" The foreman replied. "But we're setting up the foundations right now. You said you wanted to oversee that pers-"

"I know what I said." Reeve cut him off, putting on his jacket, and heading outside. "Just take care of it."

* * *

"Okay, just make sure to keep a low profile for now." Cloud spoke into his PHS. 

He was currently driving through the heart of the market district in Edge. A long street bazaar stretched out in all directions, alive with human traffic, even that late at night. As he drove through the street, he spotted a figure dressed in brown robes out of the corner of his eye. The figure was ducking into one of the many shops lining the street.

"Listen, I've gotta go." Cloud said. "I'll call you back soon."

Parking his motorcycle across the street, he strapped his sword to his back and headed inside the decrepit building housing the small club.

_"All right, old man."_ He thought. _"It's time for some answers.."_

As he stepped inside, he saw that the club was mostly deserted, except for a few patrons, who cast the blond swordsman a casual glance, before going back to minding their own business. The place itself seemed friendly enough at that. Most of the people inside seemed to be too busy with their drinks and conversations to be noticing much of anything. One old man, sitting in a corner booth, was lazily strumming a battered old guitar and humming some forgotten blues song.

_I got a letter this morning  
How do you reckon it read?  
It said "hurry on down, friend,  
Your love is dead."  
I said I got a letter this morning  
How do you reckon it read?_

Ignoring the looks that some of the club's more wary patrons gave him as he passed, Cloud slowly made his way through the crowd of people, towards the robed figure standing at the far end of the room, with his back turned to everyone else.

"I was wondering if you'd show up." The figure spoke, as Cloud neared him. The man turned around, revealing the same face as the one Cloud had seen earlier that night. Getting a better look at him, he found that the man looked more like an old monk than anything else, with his short crop of white hair and greying beard.

Cloud narrowed his eyed. He was feeling pissed off and tired and certainly not in the mood for riddles or guessing games. "One of my friends was attacked tonight. Her family is dead. Start talking."

The old man sighed. "You don't waste any time, do you?" He looked up at the younger man, whose gaze didn't waver from him for one second. The old man then quietly led him over to the far corner of the room.

_It felt like there was ten thousand people  
standing 'round the burial ground  
I didn't know I loved her,  
'till they laid her down  
felt like there was ten thousand people  
'round the burial ground_

"It seems that you have made yourself an enemy of a certain secret sect." The old man said, glancing occasionally at the other patrons to ensure that no-one else was listening. "They call themselves the Emissaries."

"What do they want?" Cloud asked.

"You, dead." The old man replied simply, smirking. "For one."

Cloud grabbed the old man by the collar of his robe. "Don't.. waste my time." He said, in a low, threatening tone of voice. "Tell me what they're after, and do it _now_."

The old man feebly pushed him away, brushing off his robes as the blond swordsman let him go. "Very well." The old man replied. "In broad terms, _very_ broad terms, mind you, they are seeking the Enuma Elish."

"Why?"

"My friend, the reasons _why_ do not matter as much as the fact that they must _not_ get their hands on it."

_well, I walked to her right close  
looked down into her face  
said, "good ol' gal  
you've gotta lay here 'till Judgement Day"_

"Fair enough." Cloud replied tersely. "What is it? And why are they targeting us?"

"Your exploits of two years ago might have something to do with it." The old man replied knowingly. He noticed that Cloud was taken aback at his comment. "Oh, yes. There are those of us who know what part you played in those fateful events, Strife."

"I see.." Cloud replied.

The old man leaned in closer. "I'll tell you one thing, for now." He spoke, in a lowered tone of voice. "If you are to survive this, you need to open your mind to omens. Portents. Little signs here and there." The old man said. "Most people blissfully ignore them, but you see them everywhere, every day."

Cloud said nothing in reply, but simply looked at the old man curiously.

"Meet me at the old church in the Midgar ruins tomorrow night." The old man said. "I'll tell you more then. For now, stay out of sight." He advised, before leaving the building.

Cloud watched the old man as he left, thinking about what he had just said.

_I folded up my arms  
slowly walked away  
I said "farewell, honey  
I'll see you on Judgement Day"_

"Omens, huh?" He thought to himself, heading out of the building as well, the last words of the old bluesman's song echoing behind him.

_"..farewell, honey...I'll see you on Judgement Day.."_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Well, that's chapter two out of the gates. And this is officially a record time for me when it comes to updates. For those waiting, I'm still working on Empires, but that takes a bit more time and planning, whereas this particular idea is more spontaneous.

The song in this chapter is "Death Letter Blues", by the legendary Son House. I had this idea earlier today to try and work it into this story, since the lyrics seemed to fit, in an eerie kind of way. Anyway, I'll try and update both stories again soon. Stay tuned.


	3. Sacrament

**Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell**

**Chapter 3  
"Sacrament"**

* * *

A crashing sound, like that of glass shattering woke Cid Highwind from his slumber. Grudgingly, the grizzled airship pilot raised himself up in bed, flicking the lamp light on absently. "The hell..?" He muttered, shaking off the mental cobwebs of sleep. 

From her side of the bed, Shera mumbled something unintelligible from the depths of her slumber.

"Go back to sleep, hon'." Cid told her. "I'll go see what it is.." He leaned over and planted a quick kiss on Shera's cheek, leaving her to her dreams.

"Better not be those goddamn neighbor kids again.." The captain muttered, putting on some clothes, before heading out into the hallway, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It felt strangely cold in the house, he noted, as he turned the corner..

Any remaining sleep fatigue in his body quickly departed as he noticed that the front door of the house has been smashed in. Cid hurriedly turned back towards the study, throwing open the large cabinet leaning against the wall, reaching for his trusty halberd.

But it wasn't there..

"Looking for something..?" a voice taunted him.

Cid turned his head towards the open doorway again, in the direction of the voice. Silhouetted in the doorframe was a figure clad in robes, holding Cid's spear in one hand, its tip gleaming in the faint moonlight..

* * *

"Damn it.." Cloud cursed under his breath. 

Someone had tampered with the fuel injection. His motorcycle simply sputtered in protest, and went dead, for the third time in a row. As he reached down towards the engine to see exactly what was wrong, he could hear someone running up towards him, rushing him cold.

Before he could react, he felt a sharp blow on the head, followed by blank darkness and silence..

_DCLXVI_

The next thing he knew, he was slowly being dragged across a grimy floor. As he struggled to move, he noticed that his hands were tied behind his back. He tried to focus on what little light there was in his new surroundings, as his vision became clear again.

Two figures dressed in black robes were dragging him through a decrepit, abandoned building, with a third figure following closely behind. The robed men moved him into a small, dark room, leaving him laying against the wall.

The two figures that had been dragging him across the floor left, leaving the third one alone with him in the room. "He's all yours, Alastor." One of the figures spoke as it departed.

Cloud leaned his head against the wall for a second, letting out a deep breath. If he weren't feeling so groggy from being knocked out, he might actually have been scared..

Glancing over to his left, he noticed a small wooden table next to him. On the table was a metal tray, with several sharp-looking cutting tools laid out on it.

_Not good.._

The third figure, Alastor, stood still in the middle of the room, looking down at him. Cloud looked back at his captor, trying to make out his face in the dark. "Who are you?" he asked calmly. "Where am I?" He nearly croaked the words. His throat felt hoarse, and the dusty air of the abandoned building wasn't helping much.

The robed figure didn't reply, but instead walked over to the table next to him. "Too many questions, yes, yes." The man spoke, glancing down at him, as he picked up one of the scalpels from the tray, examining it intently. "That is your problem, Mr. Strife."

The figure walked over to the other side of the room, gesturing as it spoke. "If you hadn't been snooping around, mayhaps you would not have found yourself here?" The robed man asked rhetorically. "Then again, who knows? Maybe you would." He continued, turning back towards his captive.

Cloud snorted, shaking his head slowly. His captor seemed quite deranged, to say the least, talking to himself like that.

"In any case, you are here now." Alastor concluded, offering a smile devoid of any good nature or humor.

"What do you want?" Cloud asked impatiently, staring his captor in the face.

"It is not your turn to ask questions, no, no." The man replied. "It is _I_ who will know things now."

"Go to hell." Cloud replied, closing his eyes.

In spite of himself, the robed man chuckled ever so slightly. "I should hope." He replied, amused. "Now..." Alastor said, growing more serious in his tone of voice. "Everyone has a breaking point, yes?" He said, kneeling down in front of his captive, holding the small scalpel up to Cloud's eye.. "We'll just have to see where yours lies."

Cloud cast a sideways glance at the man, shrinking away from the scalpel in his hand. As much as he didn't want to admit it, fear was beginning to settle into him. He knew what was going to happen next. During his army days, he had, among other things, been trained to resist and endure torture. But his captor was right. Everyone broke eventually. It was just a matter of time..

"We'll just see if you're still in any shape to talk, by then.." Alastor said, grinning a cold, insane grin. "Now, who have you been talking to?" He asked innocuously.

When there was no reply, the robed figure began to move the scalpel downward, choosing a spot just below the shoulderblades to begin cutting. He made a short, but deep cut, before removing the scalpel again. Cloud flinched, but managed to resist the urge to cry out in pain.

"What do you know about us?" The man asked. Cloud said nothing. His silence seemed only to gratify his demented captor. When he received no answer, the man in robes continued digging further in with the scalpel, twisting the knife in the wounds he was making. Cloud breathed hard, trying to ignore the pain, but he found it getting harder every moment to do so..

"Who else knows?" Alastor demanded quietly, a twisted, perverse look of pleasure forming on his face, Cloud realized, to his horror. He was actually _enjoying_ this..

He tried to hold out just a little longer, willing himself not to scream, as the knife pierced deeper into his flesh..

* * *

Tifa Lockheart was getting rather annoyed. 

She was quite used to receiving hoots and catcalls due to her figure and looks. It was something that she had both enjoyed and endured for the greater part of her life, but the group that had been harassing her after she had left her hotel room earlier that night was apparently _still_ following her.

Walking down the streets of Costa Del Sol a little bit faster, she resolved to try and lose them in a hurry. She glanced back, to see if they were still with her, when she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I-" she started to apologize, before being cut off.

"Heeyy, where ya goin' in such a hurry?" The man asked, barring her path.

"None of your business." She replied coldly. "Now, get out of my way."

As she made to move past him, the man reached up, grabbing her by the arm, pushing her back. "Or what?" the man asked, slipping a knife from his jacket pocket. "You've got a little time to play, don'cha?"

The gang that had been following her caught up with them, closing in on her. Before she knew it, she was surrounded.

"You know, a pretty young thing like yourself could get hurt wandering around at this time of night." The man said, smiling, before signaling for the others to attack.

Tifa quickly stepped back as the first one of them charged. Her attacker was sent crashing into the ground as he clumsily swung his knife at her, leaning way too far into his attack. Another two punks came at her with their switch-blades, but their attack was slow and predictable , allowing her ample time to ward off their attempts. She caught one of her assailant's arms behind her own, dealing him a swift punch in the lower back, followed by a sharp knee to the temple, rendering him unconscious.

The last one charged at her, bringing his switchblade down in a slow arc. Unfortunately for him, Tifa saw the attack coming, giving her the opportunity to counter it. She reflexively caught her attacker's wrist in mid-air, then quickly spun around behind his back, putting him into a painful reverse wristlock. The sudden pain shooting through her assailant's arm caused him to drop his weapon, which landed on the ground with a dull metallic clank.

Having rendered her attacker helpless, Tifa pressed her knee into his back, pushing him further into the sandy ground. "Hey, let go, bitch!" The punk squealed pathetically, as she forced him to his knees.

"Fuck this!" the gang's leader said, panicking. "Let's get outta here!"

The other gang members, discouraged by their chosen victim's surprising ferocity, began to disperse. Once they were gone, Tifa breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, they were just some punks out searching for trouble. Certainly not the types that would actively go after a group like Avalanche. Still, it left her with a bad feeling in her stomach. Something felt _wrong_ tonight, as if the whole world were aligning against them..

She began walking down the streets again, in the direction of the docks, moving faster with every step.

* * *

Cloud rested his head against the cool concrete wall, slowly drawing in one breath after another. He tried to focus on what little light there was in the room, emanating from a lantern sitting on the table next to him. 

_"I must have passed out.."_ he thought.

He tried to remember where he was.

_"Captured.."_ he realized, _"I was captured earlier.."_

He winced slightly as he tried to move, realizing that he was quite badly lacerated on the upper part of his body. His throat felt dry, and he was starting to get rope burn from trying to free himself..

The man called Alastor had left, for the time being, he noticed. He could hear several voices drifting down the corridor. Focusing all his attention on the half-closed doorway, he could catch snippets of their conversation.

_"..Say what you will, Ose.."_

_"...Lord Belial is displeased with our progress here.."_

_"We saw him speaking to one of the Gatekeepers earlier.."_

_"..He knows nothing of value or consequence. Let's kill him and be done with it.."_

Suddenly feeling very alert and awake, Cloud shuffled to his left, knocking into the table next to him, causing the tray with the cutting tools to spill all over the floor around him. With his hands still tied behind his back, he grasped desperately for any sharp implement he could catch..

"Now, what have you done?" Alastor's voice came. Cloud looked up to see his captor standing in the doorway. The robed man walked over, picking up the metal tray, and began to methodically place the cutting tools back on it.

"What a mess.." Alastor spoke conversationally, kneeling down to pick up the various knives, scalpels and other implements strewn across the floor. "Can't have this, no.."

Just as his captor leaned over to pick up one of the knives laying next to him, Cloud attacked suddenly. With his hands now freed, he drove the scalpel he had caught deep into Alastor's throat, shredding open his carotid artery as he cut outwards at an angle.

Alastor jumped away, startled, blood spilling freely from his wound. Alarmed, he tried to call for help, but the only thing coming out of his mouth was more blood.

Capitalizing on his enemy's surprise, Cloud rushed up to his feet, kicking Alastor in the gut. The robed man crashed into the doorway at an awkward angle, rebounding off the corner of the doorway. Using his own inertia against him, Cloud caught Alastor by the back of his head, smashing his captor through the wooden table, knocking him unconscious.

Getting up again, Cloud paused to compose himself and catch his breath. He had little time to admire his handiwork, however, as the other robed men came running down the corridor, having heard all the commotion. Two more robed figures came bursting through the doorway, quickly surveying the chaotic scene in the room, their cult's distinctively jagged knives drawn.

Realizing what had occurred, the first of them lunged at Cloud with his knife, stabbing away wildly. Thinking fast, Cloud dodged the attack, catching his assailant's arm just above the elbow. The ex-soldier quickly drove down his free hand on his attacker's forearm, forcing it's joint to move the wrong way, splitting it down to the bone with a sickening cracking sound. The robed figure screamed and hissed at him, revealing a sunken, old face and a mouth full of rotten, black teeth and bile.

Before the other cultist had time to think or react, Cloud began to reverse the attack. Gripping what was left of his assailant's broken arm, he released his left hand to deliver a final, backhanded blow to the man's face, knocking him into his friend still standing in the doorway, nearly sending him crumpling to the floor along with the body of his comrade.

Pushing his deceased accomplice out of the way, the final cultist charged at the blond swordsman. But his intended target was ready for him. Seeing the attack coming, Cloud easily batted his knife-arm out of the way before dealing him a right-handed hook that sent him reeling, causing him to drop his dagger to the floor. Unfazed, the cultist charged him again, screaming, catching the blond swordsman by surprise, forcing him to the ground. The two of them wrestled on the ground, each looking for a way to gain the upper hand.

Cloud struggled with his assailant. His strength felt somehow unnatural, as if the man were much stronger than his frail body should have allowed him to be. The robed man, pinning him to the ground momentarily, quickly snatched one of the many weapons strewn across the concrete floor, a long blade. He raised the blade sharply above his head, driving it down as hard as he could. Cloud, barely reacting in time, caught his hands by their wrists, keeping them from completing their downward arc. But his assailant was slowly forcing the blade further down, towards the blond swordsman's neck..

Acting on pure instinct, Cloud let go with one of his hands, instead gripping the blade by its naked edge as it continued sinking closer to its intended destination. Blood poured from his palm as the blade cut into his hand. The robed man cackled insanely as the blade brushed up against the blond swordsman's neck.

But his moment of victory was short-lived.

Cloud's attacker was left with a look of incredulous surprise on his face as the blond swordsman, struggling to bend the blade sideways, snapped the bottom half of the weapon off. Without wasting any time, Cloud drove the broken edge of the blade through the bottom of his enemy's jaw. The cultist's face was frozen with a look somewhere between utter surprise and horror as the blade pierced right through his cranium, emerging again through the top of his head.

Pushing the now-dead body of his attacker from top of him, Cloud sat up again, breathing hard. As he waited for the adrenaline rush to pass, he could hear someone else in the room, breathing tersely.

_Alastor.._

Getting up to his feet, Cloud walked over to the interrogator of the group, still alive. The blond swordsman was amazed that he was even drawing breath after the wounds he had received. Alastor painfully turned over onto his side, as Cloud knelt down next to him. He weakly clutched a small scalpel, stabbing away feebly at his former captive. Cloud simply gripped his hand, forcing him to drop the weapon again. The cultist grunted irritably, resigned to his defeat.

"You're not gonna talk, are you?" Cloud asked earnestly.

Alastor simply glared at him angrily, blood still pooling from the edges of his mouth.

"Then I guess I'll see you in Hell." Cloud said, getting up again. Alastor grinned insanely again, trying to chuckle as best he could. Cloud, moving quickly, walked over behind his former captor, placing him in a headlock. Then, in one swift move, he snapped the man's neck, dropping the robed body to the ground.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, Cloud let out a sigh of relief. Surveying the room, he looked around to see the damage done. Three of these mysterious cultists lay dead. Blood was smeared liberally over the floor and walls. Edged weapons of all shapes and sizes lay scattered on the ground, and the wooden table had for the most part been smashed into splinters. It was not a pretty sight..

The blond swordsman took a moment to assess his enemies. They were incredibly aggressive, to the point of being frenzied, but none of them, he could tell, was a trained combatant. _"Must be pawns.."_ Cloud thought. _"They can't have been higher-ups, if these cultists are as organized as they appear to be.."_

Exhausted, Cloud staggered out of the room, pressing against the wall for support, looking for an exit. As he passed one of the rooms, he noticed that his possessions were laid out on a table at the far end. Seeing that the room was empty, he headed inside to pick up his belonging. As he strapped his sword to his back again, he noticed that his materia, still laying on the table, looked different somehow, less colorful. As he reached out to pick one up, it crumbled into dust in his hands, much to the blond swordsman's surprise.

_"Great.."_ Cloud thought. _"I should have figured. Oh, well. It's a good thing they didn't get a chance to do the same thing to my Buster sword.."_

Heading for the decrepit building's exit, Cloud was nearly blinded by the bright sunlight, coming in sharp contrast with the building's murky blackness. A few crows stirred as he exited the building, fluttering up into the radiant afternoon sky. The blond swordsman reached for his PHS. From what he could tell, he was somewhere in the ruins of Old Midgar, most likely near the outskirts..

The PHS's autodial quickly connected him with the number he had picked. "Yeah?" Cid's gruff voice came over the other end of the phone.

"Cid." Cloud said. "Are you ok?"

There was a short pause. He heard Cid let out a terse breath on the other end of the line.

"No.." Cid replied, sounding weary. "...Not exactly."

Puzzled, Cloud simply waited for Cid to continue.

"That was you calling last night, wasn't it?" Cid asked.

"Yeah." Cloud replied, more to acknowledge Cid's question than to answer it, as he already knew.

"I already talked to the others." Cid continued. "I know the score."

The airship pilot paused, anger in his voice now. "Cloud... let's get those bastards.."

"We will." Cloud assured him.

"Where are ya, anyway?"

"I'm in the Midgar outskirts." Cloud explained. "Pick me up at the old church."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Cid replied. "I need to pick up the others first."

"All right. See you soon." Cloud said, ending the call and placing his PHS back in his pocket.

* * *

On the other side of the world, Cid laid the phone's receiver back down on the nightstand. Turning over, he looked at Shera's lifeless body, laid out on their bed. Letting out a mournful sigh, the airship captain leaned over her cadaver, her arms respectfully folded across her chest. "I'm sorry, baby.." he said, planting a kiss on her forehead. 

Getting up, Cid walked out of the room, glancing at his deceased wife one last time before turning away again. He reached inside his jacket pocket for a pack of smokes, lighting one up as he stepped over the robed figure's body, laying on the floor. The whole house bore the marks of their fight earlier the preceding night, with shattered furniture and broken glass littered everywhere.

"Time to end this." he said, exhaling a cloud of smoke as he stepped outside of his house, walking towards his airship, parked on the outskirts of his hometown..

* * *

As he made his way towards the Old Church in what used to be Midgar's slums, Cloud noticed a figure dressed in black robes, heading in a similar direction, carefully clutching a black book lined with red ink on the cover. By process of elimination, he realized he was looking at the man identifying himself as Ose, one of the higher-ups. 

"Hey!" he called. The robed figure, startled by its discovery, glanced at Cloud, before dashing away in the opposite direction. Despite being as tired as he was, Cloud decided to give chase, hurdling the scrap-iron remains laying here and there on the ground, blocking their paths. Fortunately, Ose was not so quick on his feet, apparently, and he soon found himself catching up to the man in black.

As he was about to be caught by his pursuer, Ose ducked into one of the ruined buildings, running as fast as he possibly could. Cloud chased the black-robed figure down a long corridor, towards a single room at the end. As he neared the room, he could hear a muffled cry of pain, followed by the sound of something like concrete breaking. As he burst into the room, however, he noticed that it was completely empty.

Looking around quickly, the blond swordsman saw that there were no other exits to the room. None of the walls in the room had been disturbed, and the ceiling was completely intact. It was as if the man in black had simply vanished into thin air..

Taking another look around the room, Cloud noticed a red circle that was drawn on the far end of the room. Reaching out to touch it, he realized that the circle was drawn from blood, still drying on the concrete wall.

"What the hell?" he muttered, examining the circle.

The occurrence was an ominous one, to say the least. People didn't just disappear into nothingness, Cloud thought. At least, that's what the logical part of his brain was screaming. But something else told him that these were no ordinary people he was dealing with. He was going to have to find some answers, and _soon_..

* * *

**Author's Ramble:**

Well, again it's been quite a while since the last time I updated anything, so I won't make any false promises that I'll be updating again quickly. I'll try though. Hope you found this chapter entertaining. I've found that I especially enjoy working on the fight scenes, as they require a certain amount of mental choreography to be effective. Also, I try to go for a grittier, more physical approach to them than most other writers here. It's fun.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. I'll try and update this story again quickly if I can. For those of you waiting for the next chapter of "Empires", I assure you yet again that I haven't abandoned it, and it'll be the next thing I work on. Stay tuned, everyone.**  
**


End file.
